A private school physical education teacher who was “lucky not go to prison” was fined Lm60 after being found guilty of beating up a 15-year-old student early last year.

Antonello Calleja, a 32-year-old teacher from Balzan, was accused of assaulting and slightly injuring a student on 20 January 2004 at San Anton School.

A magistrates’ court yesterday heard both the accused and the victim give their version of events.

The student, now 16 years old, took the stand and said on the day in question, a friend of his threw a piece of bread in Calleja’s bag. The boy said, “I told you not to pick on children,” referring to the teacher. In response to this comment Calleja said, “I will show you who is a child.”

The 16-year-old said the accused then grabbed him from the hair and threw him on the concrete steps that were behind him. “He kicked me and then came down on my chest with his knee,” continued the boy.

He said Calleja then took him to the assistant head master. Upon going back home, the boy first told his parents he had fallen but when his friends told him they had told their parents the truth, he decided to also tell his parents what had really happened.

The version given by the accused was very similar to the one given by the boy. He told the court he was giving a physical education lesson when a group of five students, including the victim, started bothering him.

When talking about the actual incident, the teacher said he moved towards the student who pulled back and fell. “He might have hit his head, but I did not see it happen,” he said.

When he took the stand, Calleja said he never hit the boy. “I leaned over to pick him up and my knee hit his chest,” the accused continued. He explained that when he could not pick the boy up he jumped over him and hit his head with his foot in the process.

“When I told him to get up, he got up of his own accord,” continued Calleja. Presiding magistrate Abigail Lofaro asked the accused whether he had pushed the boy into some lockers on the way to the assistant head master’s office.

Calleja denied this but said, “I may have punched him into the wall and told him to walk.” He said he apologised for his rough behaviour when approached by the boy’s mother.

“She told me to apologise to her son in front of all the students who had witnessed the incident. I did make this apology,” said Calleja.

The victim’s mother, Victoria Camilleri, also took the stand at yesterday’s hearing. She said that on the day of the incident, her son had come home with a black eye, bruised ribs and a swollen arm.

“That day he told me he had fallen down but the day after he admitted his teacher had beaten him up,” she said.

She explained that she took legal action and also told of her meeting with Calleja in which she demanded he apologise to her son. The case was also taken up by the school board but no formal warning was ever given to the teacher.

The accused only found out that legal proceedings had been taken against him a week ago when the police came to notify him during parents day, he said.

After the prosecution declared it had no more evidence to present, magistrate Lofaro passed judgment claiming the man was lucky to not get thrown into prison.

She fined him Lm60 and ordered him not to molest the boy for the next year. Were he to annoy the student, Calleja faces a Lm100 fine.

Inspector Paul Bond prosecuted. Dr Aldo Vella appeared parte civile for the victim while Dr Michael Sciriha defended the accused.